Phase 1: 1968

Phase 2: 10/15/1959

Somali President Abdi Rashid Ali Shermarke was assassinated
in a family feud. Maj.Gen. Siyad Barre led a successful military coup. Relations with the
West deteriorated, while the USSR increased support in exchange for a naval base
(Berbera). Facing domestic pressures, Siyad Barre, under the banner of "Greater
Somalia", again talked of reclaiming areas in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya where
Somali nomads lived. Border clashes with Ethiopia increased. Somalia reportedly supported
nomadic Somali rebels in Ethiopia through the 1970s. In 1973 the French relaxed their hold
on Djibouti. In 1974 internal difficulties in Ethiopia led to the overthrow of Haile
Selassie on September 12 by a Marxist-Leninist military coup. In 1976 Barrre formed a
socialist-Islamic Revolutionary Party (SRSP), nationalized most enterprises and tried to
settle Somali nomads.

Phase 3: 1/1977

Territorial disputes increased, ties deteriorated.
Following civil disruption and violence in Ethiopia, Somali troops on July 23 1977 crossed
into the Ogaden province. Ethiopia received military aid from the USSR, Cuba and Libya.
Heavy casualties were reported on both sides. In November 1977 Somalia expelled the
Soviets and requested US and UK aid. The US refused all but civilian aid; the UK supplied
military aid as well. OAU talks were sought but Somali delegates quit the talks. Ethiopia
reportedly adopted a "scorched earth" policy (poisoning water, killing cattle,
strafing settlements) against the Somali Abo Liberation Front (SALF). With Soviet aid,
Ethiopia was able to reconquer the Ogaden by March 15 1978.

Phase 4: 3/16/1978

Sporadic border squabbles continued. Despite OAU requests
for border settlement, the issue remained unresolved. In May 1980 a Somali raid into the
Ogaden was soon crushed. Somalia continued to support the Western Somali Liberation Front
(WSLF).

Settled: 4/1988

Ethiopia, under Eritrean military pressures [see ETE], and Somalia, beset by its own civil war, signed a treaty in
April 1988 ending their conflict.